That's How it Works
by TeamPiper
Summary: A simple night hustling pool takes a turn for the worse when Cas takes some bad advice from Dean. Protective!Dean and Hurt!Cas. Can be read as Destiel if you want to interpret it that way.


**So this is what happens when you haven't watched any new Supernatural episodes in 2 weeks and you're on a plan for 10 hours. It's a little bit OOC, but I tried. It's my first time writing for these characters, so hopefully it's not too terrible.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural. If I did, let's be real, Misha would have a lot more screen time.**

A person always knows when they're about to run out of money. It's one of those natural human instincts that we all know and hate.

Needless to say, this was a feeling both Winchester boys knew all too well. Despite being remarkably good and hard workers in their area of expertise, the job didn't exactly pay well.

No-

The job didn't pay anything at all.

Therefor, it was not uncommon to see the eldest Winchester at a bar pretending to be bad at pool. This was one of the various skills the boy had learned from his father. Over the years, Dean had trained Sammy to do the same, and even though Sam was slightly more reluctant, every now and then he would become desperate for some cash and snag a few hundred dollars from some drunk asshole at the bar.

This Friday night was hardly different from any other. The Winchester brothers found themselves in a dirty, run down bar in Random-City, Wyoming where they waited for just the right moment to get an opponent. However, there was a small change in the order of the night.

"I fail to understand why you require my presence for this endeavor" Castiel complained as he took a sip of beer. The alcohol burned down his throat, and he visibly winced as he tried to swallow.

Dean stifled a laugh at his friend as he explained, "Cas, hustling pool is a Winchester family trade. You're one of us now; you gotta show it"

Dean could have sworn he saw the angel blush for a brief moment before his face went into a deadpan "I understand that, I just find it morally corrupt to manipulate humans while they are under the influence"

Dean scoffed and said "Oh yeah, Cas. Because you are so above manipulation"

Castiel opened his mouth as if he was about to argue, but then closed it again, wanting to avoid confrontation with his best friend.

"That's what I thought" Dean said, pulling his first beer up to his lips and finishing it off.

"It's not as bad as you think, Cas" Sam piped in, setting down his half full bottle of Sam Adams. "I mean, I'm not in favor of cheating people out of their money, but we probably need it more than they do. At least pool-hustling is better than credit card fraud"

While Castiel supposed that was true, he decided to stay silent. He brought the bottle of beer up to his lips again for another try, but found it even less desirable than the first sip. He practically spat out the drink as Dean let out a roar of laughter.

Cas glared at the Hunter and said "I don't see how you find this so amusing, Dean"

Still laughing, Dean said "Sorry man. I just can't believe a grown man can't keep a sip of liquor down"

"You of all people should know that I am no man. I am-"

"Yeah yeah, save it Wings. Make yourself useful and go snag me another round"

As Castiel rose from his chair, he couldn't help but think about Dean's statement; had Cas not been useful thus far? I mean, he literally dragged Dean out of hell, what else could Dean ask of him?

Unable to shake this feeling, Cas made eye contact with the large man behind the bar and said "I request one beer"

The bartender gave him a strange look, but shook his head and passed Cas the cold bottle.

As Castiel started back to the table where the brothers were positioned, he felt a hand tap his shoulder. He turned around to face a young girl, maybe 26 or 27, about his height (he later noticed she had on rather tall shoes) with unnaturally blonde hair and enough makeup to last a week plastered on her face.

"Hey-" she slurred, her hand still lingering above Cas's shoulder. "What's up?"

Castiel gave her an honest answer. "Well, my brothers and sisters are occasionally 'up' as you call it, but they often spend time here on Earth attempting to control the human race. So, I suppose that could be considered 'up'"

The girl looked confused for a moment, but laughed it off in a drunken haze. "You're funny. I'm Amber. What's your name?"

"Castiel, but I've found that you humans don't like names that are longer than 2 syllables, so many people just refer to me as Cas"

"Well Castle-" Amber said, mispronouncing the Angels name. "How about we take this outside?"

"I'm afraid I cannot. This horrific beverage is for my companion, Dean Winchester. I'm attempting to prove to him that I am not in fact, useless. I must go now"

And with that, Cas walked away not even looking back to see the confused look on the girls face.

As he returned to the table, both Winchesters were staring at him intently.

"Oh-ho, Cas what was that about?" Dean said in an excited voice.

"I am unsure" Castiel replied, passing Dean the beer he had just returned with. "There. I am useful"

"But man, what exactly did that chick say?" Sam questioned.

"The female I just conversed with?" Cas asked, genuinely curious. He was unsure as to why the brothers were even remotely interested.

"Well, who else?" Dean said. "Seriously Cas, what did she say?"

Cas repleted the conversation practically word for word, and by the end of it, Dean had an astonished look on his face.

"Castiel. When someone wants to 'take it outside', YOU NEVER TURN THAT DOWN"

"I am confused-" Cas started, before he was cut off.

"Whatever-" Dean said. "God, how we're even friends is beyond me"

That struck Cas like a dagger. Did Dean not want to be his companion anymore? Was he about to lose another ally in this war?

No, Cas decided. He had already lost the majority of his brothers and sisters, he wouldn't lose the Winchesters too.

"I am sorry" Castiel said, hanging his head down in shame.

This small act when duly noted by Sam, but went completely unnoticed by his older brother.

"Well, I think the people around her are just drunk enough to hustle out of some big bucks. Sammy, come on. Cas, you just... Wait here then"

"Okay, I will do that" Cas tried to say, but Dean was out of earshot before he could get the message across.

Of course, Castiel did as he was told. He waited there, silently observing as the brothers played their way through their first match. About 45 minutes had gone by when Cas turned around and saw a man standing behind him.

The man was slightly larger than Castiel, maybe rivaling Dean in height. He had a relatively strong build, and shaggy black hair.

"Hey there" the man said. Cas was able to determine that the man was intoxicated, not to the point of being unaware of his actions, but still tipsy enough to make some choices he might regret in the morning.

"Hello" Cas said quietly, trying to turn away. Before he could complete the turn, the man set his hand on Castiel's thigh, creating small circles with his fingers. As the mans hand gradually moved up his leg, Cas couldn't help but wonder if this is what Dean meant by personal space.

"My names Shane, what's yours?"

"Castiel" he replied curtly, trying to shake Shane's hand from his leg. It was not a pleasant feeling, but Cas wasn't sure why he was so opposed to this man touching him there.

"Well Cassie-" the man started. "How about we take this outside"

There was that phrase again... Cas thought back to what Dean had said earlier.

 _"Castiel. When someone wants to 'take it outside', YOU NEVER TURN THAT DOWN"_

As uncomfortable as this Shane man made him, Castiel did not want to disappoint Dean for a second time that night.

"Okay" Cas whispered.

Shane smiled, and Cas felt a brief rush of relief as Shane's hand pulled away from his thigh. However, his heart started beating even faster as Shane snagged Castiel's hand into his own, and rather forcefully pulled him out of his seat.

Cas looked back at Dean, who was too focused on his game to pay any attention to what the Angel was doing.

 _You'll see, Dean_ Cas though. _I'll make you proud of me._

As Cas was lead roughly into a back alley, he started to regret his decision.

"We are going to have so much fun tonight, Cassie" Shane said, pushing Cas up against the wall.

Cas told himself to suck it up. This is what Dean would do. Make Dean proud of you.

"Let's get rid of that coat-" Shane tore the trench coat from the Angels body, and threw it several feet away, where the wind picked it up and carried it out of the alley. Cas was instantly hit by the cold. As Shane continued clawing at his shirt, Cas came to a decision.

"No" he said, in a slightly panicked voice. "No I don't want to do this anymore"

"Well too bad, Cassie" Shane growled. "I'm not letting you go that easy"

Before Cas could do anything about it, Shane had quickly drawn a knife out of his back pocket and held it close to Castiel's throat.

Castiel froze. Not that he had told Sam and Dean yet, but his healing powers weren't exactly up to par recently. He avoided telling the brothers because he didn't want them to feel as if Castiel was useless... Although, they clearly already thought of him that way.

"Now we're gonna have some fun, or I'm gonna kill you. Ya hear?"

Cas nodded in understanding.

"Good. Now let's get this wild party started"

The knife still to his throat, Shane began pressing his lips against Castiel's feverishly. Cas tried to fight back, but at his resistance he felt a small trail of blood run down his neck.

Cas whimpered as Shane grew more and more intense.

 _Dean_ , Cas thought. _If you're out there, please get me out of this._

Dean knew something sketchy was going on the second he glanced up and saw that Cas wasn't sitting quietly where he left him.

"Hey Sammy," Dean said after they finished up another game off pool, adding 50 dollars to their collection. "You see where Cas went?"

Sam looked up, and was also somewhat surprised to see his friend missing.

"Maybe he had to pee?" Sam suggested.

"Nah, he's a freaking Angel. I don't think bladder control is an issue for them" Dean said.

The Winchesters walked back to the table where they had left Castiel, and started looking around.

"Okay, this is just weird" Dean said, starting to get frantic.

"Dean, calm down. I'm sure he just got bored and left"

"He wouldn't do that without telling us"

"Cas is perfectly capable of taking care of himself"

"Yeah, well that doesn't mean I'm going to let him" Dean said, fire in his voice. He threw his coat on, and went outside. The cold air hit him instantly, and he felt a pang of pity for Castiel; if the Angel really was out here, he would be freezing in just a trench coat.

"Yo, Cas!" Dean called out, hoping for a response. "Buddy, where'd you go?"

Nothing.

"Okay, jokes on me. I won't make you hustle pool. Now get your feathery ass out here and let's go"

Still nothing.

"This isn't funny, Castiel"

The full name; Dean was pulling out the big guns.

"Cas!" Dean shouted, jogging around the bar to see if there was any sign of his friend.

"Casti-" Dean cut himself off at the sight of his friends trench coat.

Cas would never willingly take that thing off.

Something was wrong.

Dean then heard faint noises in a dark alley right behind the bar. Without even thinking about it, Dean took off in that direction.

Dean could barely make out two figures in the dark; one was a man he had never seen before, but the other was his best friend.

Dean's eye sight went red with rage. This man- no, this monster had the audacity to try and rape Cas? No. No way in hell (or heaven, in this case) would Dean let this slide.

Before he could even think about it, Dean was knocking the man away from Castiel. Dean could hear Cas breath a sigh of relief, but he didn't care. He slammed the Monster up to the wall, and punched him in the gut.

"You better stay the fuck away from my angel" Dean whispered in a death defying voice. "If you even so much as look at him again, I will personally hunt you down and skin you alive. Are we clear?"

The man made some sort of noise, and Dean shouted again "Are we clear?!"

"Yes!" He shouted in response.

"Good," Dean said, dropping him to the floor. "Now go rot in hell"

With one final kick to the head, Dean knocked the man unconscious.

In seconds, Dean had completely changed his look of hate and disgust into a look of pure concern.

Instantly, Dean was down on his knees by his friend who was lying half naked on the ground. He quickly tore off his own jacket and wrapped it around the shivering Angel.

 _Shit, he's cold_ Dean thought.

Dean had so many things he wanted to say, but only one phrase could come out of his mouth: "Oh God, Cas"

As he looked over his friend, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt, as if he had caused this to happen. Hell, he had left him alone in a bar. This was his fault.

"Dean," Cas said weakly. "I'm fine. I just-"

"Bullshit!" Dean called out. Cas flinched slightly at his words. "You can't pull that kind of stuff with me, Cas. You're not fine. Why the hell didn't you fight back?"

Castiel mumbled something that Dean couldn't quite make out.

"Excuse me?"

"Because it's what you told me to do!" Cas repleted a little louder this time.

Dean was horror struck.

"What?"

Cas sighed, but continued. "You told me to never say no to the phrase 'let's take this outside'. That is what he said to me. I was following your instructions"

Dean put his head in his hands and sighed deeply.

"Cas," he finally said. "That man almost raped you. That is not okay. Man, if I hadn't've shown up-"

"But you did" Cas interrupted. "And I appreciate it. Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Hold on now, Cas" Dean said, putting his hand on Castiel's chest to stop him from moving. "You're not going anywhere until I say so. You're still hurt-"

"I can heal myself"

"Yeah, then why haven't you?"

Cas looked down at his feet and didn't respond.

"That's what I thought" Dean said. "You're coming back to the motel with me and Sammy, and we're gonna patch you up"

"I don't want to burden you-"

"Are you kidding? Cas, you've saved my life more times than I can count. It's about time you let me return the favor"

"I don't need you to save me" Cas said, his blue eyes looking determined.

"We save each other" Dean said, looking Castiel straight in the eyes. "That's how it works"

Cas tried to hide a smile, but it was evident that he was pleased at Dean's response.

As he helped his best friend out of the alley, Dean couldn't help but think about what had almost happened.

But it would never happen again.

Dean knew that his Angel wouldn't let anything happen to him. Just like how he wouldn't let anything happen to his Angel.

 **And thus concludes my first Supernatural fanfiction! I was half asleep when I wrote this, so who knows if it actually turned out good or not. So do you guys think I should keep writing SPN fics? Lemme know in the reviews!**


End file.
